A stand up comedy show with a unique twist. Fiery Luisa Omielam frames all her jokes and anecdotes with thoughts about Beyoncé’s swagger. All the sad portrayals of Omielam's life are juxtaposed with references to Beyoncé, who is – let’s be honest – a lot of women’s secret idol. There were intermittent snatches of Beyoncé’s music too, which picked the atmosphere up whenever it was flagging and got a bit of seat shuffle-dance thing going.
Omielam's comedy is very self-deprecating, but at points this just made me feel quite sorry for her. The balance just didn't seem quite right between critical and comedy. It did make me warm to her though. I was thinking for a lot of the set that she’d be a really amusing buddy to have a drink with, but that her comedy doesn’t translate that well to the stage. I saw glimpses of a really funny woman but her stories were a bit repetitive and lacked that comic edge.
On the whole Omielam is more endearing and likable than hilarious. A lot of the material is about sex, which is obviously fine so long as they’re pulled off well. She did definitely get quite a few laughs from the audience, and there were a few who were particularly tickled. I’d say that it’s an acquired taste – in particular for those with a pallet for the crass (the older women sat behind me did not seem impressed).
The show ended with Luisa performing a frantic dance to one of Beyoncé’s hits and pretending she was about to do a strip tease. This was one of the genuinely funny moments in the show.
It’s an enjoyable hour and it’s free so I’d say that it’s worth going along. You won’t be rolling on the floor, but you’re likely to have a grin on your face for at least most of it.
